A blog dedicated to the discussion of topics relating to the history of Sandusky and Erie County, Ohio, the Lake Erie Islands, and nearby communities; inspired by the collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center and Follett House Museum. A service of the Sandusky Library.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

The Colonial Opera Company at Cedar Point

In 1903 George A. Boeckling opened a 1200 seat opera house at Cedar Point. The Opera House was located between the Grand Pavilion and the Hotel Breakers, not far from the Cedar Point Beach. The Colonial
Opera Company performed there during the summers of 1907, 1908, and
1909. The program above was from a performance of Girofle-Girofla, under the direction of Bradford Mills, of Toledo.
The play was about identical twin daughters of the governor of a
Spanish province during the time of Moorishdomination. It was a comic
opera that had been popular in Europe since the 1870s.

You can see this vintage map of Cedar
Point at the Follett House Museum. The 1907 post card below shows the entrance
to the Opera House at Cedar Point, with the Hotel Breakers in the background.

A 1908 issue of the Grain
Dealers Journal reported that while the grain dealers were in daytime
meetings at their annual convention at Cedar Point, they took their wives to
the comic opera during the evening hours.